A recent report
by Natural Resources Defense Council discovered that tap water in several
California cities poses health risks from contamination, including from
pesticides. These risks are especially significant to children and pregnant
women.

The report, What's
on Tap? examined water from Fresno, Los Angeles, San Diego and San
Francisco. They found that major sources of pollution come from farm
and industrial effluence. In Fresno, where health risks were cited as
the worst of the four cities, water contained pesticides in combination
with industrial chemicals and nitrates, a product of fertilizers. Dr.
Beatte Ritz of Physicians for Social Responsibility, an assistant professor
of epidemiology at UCLA School of Public Health, said of Fresno water,
"Last year the city itself told pregnant women to avoid drinking
it. That's good advice."

In past studies,
Fresno has had poor tap water quality results. NRDC reports that the
banned pesticide dibromochloropropane (DBCP) was found in well samples
in 2001. In some cases these wells were taken out of service only after
as long as six months of sampling. Other pesticides found in the city's
tap water include ethylene dibromide and trichloroethylene.